Sighting-in support for firearms



March 11, 1952 BOQTH SIGHTING-IN SUPPORT FoR FIREARMS Filed April 50, 1946 MORE/51E spar/ Patented Mar. 11, 1952 STATES TE FI SIGHTING-IN SUPPORT FOR FIREARMS Morris F. Booth, Alden, Mich.

Application April 30, 1946, Serial No. 666,073

1 Claim. 1

This invention relates to a sighting-in support for a firearm such as a hand-held rifie. In adjusting or sighting-in a rifle, pistol or the like, it has been customary heretofore for the user to hold the firearm in the normal manner while firing repeated test shots at a target and to adjust the sights by trial and error until a high percentage of hits is obtained. This requires much time and a skillful shooter if the sighting-in is to be accomplished accurately. Also, in teaching novices it has been customary to use charts to illustrate proper sighting.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved support by which a firearm may be rigidly held during proof-firing or sighting-in and which may be readily adjusted, particularly horizontally to permit visual teaching and checking of proper sighting.

It is also an object to provide an apparatus of this character which is of rugged construction and reliable in operation while, at the same time, being relatively inexpensive to manufacture.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the improved support with a firearm in shooting position.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary cross section of the lower end of one of the support legs.

Referring now to Figure 1, there is illustrated a tripod having two outwardly extending forward legs l and 12 formed of steel tubing and having caps I4 forming feet at their lower ends. The legs are welded in a fitting l6 into which is also welded a rearwardly extending central leg l8 having a long substantially horizontal portion 20 and curved downwardly into a substantially vertical direction at its lower end 22. Fitted in the end of the tubing 22 is a threaded ferrule 24 in which there is threaded an adjusting screw 26. The latter is provided with a knurled knob 28 and a pointed, slightly rounded, foot 30. Rigidly secured to the top of the leg 18 are a pair of upwardly facing U-shaped clips 32 and 34 adapted to receive a rifle 36 in the position illustrated. The clips 32 and 34 are so formed as to closely fit the rifle stock and barrel to position it laterally and vertically but exert substantially no restraint against the recoil.

In operation, the firearm is placed in the position illustrated and is adjusted upwardly or downwardly by operation of the knob 28.

Horizontal adjustment is by moving the rear leg 22 on the floor or platform. In this way the novice can be instructed and checked in proper sighting without firing the gun.

The rifle may be fired against the shoulder of the operator who may more conveniently occupy a conventional sitting position. It will be seen that the rear leg [8 offers no obstruction to the legs of the operator in that position. The support does, however, hold the rifie steady and the operator does not have to support the weight of the 2 rifle. Thus it may be fired accurately for test firing and the sights adjusted to coordinate the line of sight with the line of fire.

The adjustable rear leg provides a convenient means for adjusting the sights at different ranges without removing the firearm from the support and at the same time the member 30 permits the rear leg to be easily slid back and forth in adjusting the horizontal sight on the target.

It will thus be seen that the present invention provides an inexpensive, rugged and reliable support for teaching proper sighting and proof-firing of a normally hand-held firearm.

I claim:

A sighting-in support for a firearm comprising in combination a tripod having a pair of angularly related forward legs fixedly connected together at their upper ends and a third leg rigidly connected at its upper end with said angularly related legs, said third leg having a generally horizontal portion extending rearwardly from the upper ends of said other legs substantially centrally thereof, said horizontal portion being curved downwardly at its rear end to provide a substantially vertically extending leg portion at the lower end of said third leg, U-shaped, upwardly opening brackets fixedly mounted on said horizontal portion of said third leg for rigidly supporting a normally hand-held firearm on said support for proof firing, and threaded adjusting means at the lower end of said vertically extending leg portion, said threaded adjusting means being adapted to engage a ground surface and actuatable to progressively raise and lower the lower end of said vertically extending leg portion along a substantially vertical path to pivot said tripod forwardly and rearwardly about the lower ends of said forward pair of legs.

MORRIS F. BOOTH.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,089,307 Benet et al Mar. 3, 1914 1,594,365 Haubroe Aug. 3, 1926 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 7,149 Great Britain of 1898 41,259 Germany Aug. 15, 1909 45,117 Germany June 15, 1910 430,025 France Qct. 6, 1911 9,268 Great Britain Apr. 19, 1913 523,261 France Apr. 16; 1921 414,928 Great Britain Aug. 16, 1934 432,832 Great Britain Aug. 2, 1935 655,366 Germany Jan. 14, 1948 

